We build custom websites for a living, so you'd expect us to tell you DIY website builders are rubbish.
They're not. Squarespace and Wix are genuinely good tools, and for plenty of pubs and small breweries they're the right call. But there's a point where a DIY site stops saving you money and starts costing you customers. This post is about spotting that point.
When DIY is the right call
A Squarespace or Wix site is a great choice if:
- You're just starting out. A new micropub or a brewery that's six months old doesn't need a £10k website. It needs to exist, look decent and show the hours.
- Your needs are simple. Hours, location, a menu, a few photos, a contact form. Website builders do all of that well.
- Someone on the team enjoys it. If you've got a manager with an eye for design and an hour a week, a DIY site can look great.
- Budget is tight. Squarespace starts at around £12/month on an annual plan in the UK, and Wix is in the same ballpark. Compared with a custom build, that's next to nothing.
There's no shame in it. A well-kept Squarespace site beats a neglected custom one every time.
What you get with Squarespace
Squarespace is known for polished templates and it's hard to make it look bad. It's good for:
- Clean, photo-led sites
- Simple online shops (merch, gift cards, a handful of beers)
- Basic event listings and blogs
Watch out for: limited flexibility once you want something the templates don't do, and transaction fees on the cheapest plan if you sell online.
What you get with Wix
Wix gives you more freedom to drag things wherever you like, and has a big app market. It's good for:
- Quick, flexible layouts
- Restaurant-style features like menus and table reservations
- Lots of add-ons
Watch out for: the freedom can make a site messy if nobody's keeping it tidy, and it's easy to end up with a slow site once you've added lots of apps and big images.
When DIY stops being a bargain
Here are the signs you've outgrown it.
1. Your site is slow on a phone
Most people looking for a pub are on their phone, often outside with patchy signal. If your site takes more than a few seconds to load, they'll bounce to the next result. DIY builders can be fast, but heavy templates, big uncompressed photos and lots of apps often make them sluggish.
2. You're doing workarounds every week
Copying your tap list across by hand. Uploading a new PDF menu every Friday. Updating events in three places. If keeping the site current eats an hour a week, that's 50+ hours a year. At any reasonable hourly rate, that's more than a better website would cost to run.
3. You can't connect the tools you actually use
Untappd for your tap list. ResDiary or another platform for bookings. Your EPOS. Your beer club subscriptions. Your email list. Website builders connect to some of these, but often clumsily, with a widget that doesn't match the rest of the site or slows it down.
4. You're not showing up in search
DIY builders handle the basics of SEO, but you have less control over the things that make a real difference for local search and AI search: structured data like BarOrPub or Brewery, page speed, and well-organised pages for each thing people search for. If competitors are outranking you for "pub near me" or "brewery taproom [town]", the platform may be part of the problem.
5. Your online shop has grown up
Selling a few T-shirts is easy anywhere. Selling mixed cases, subscriptions, gift boxes and delivery to certain postcodes, with proper age verification, is a different job. That's usually the point where Shopify or WooCommerce makes more sense.
6. You look like everyone else
Templates are templates. If your brewery has a brilliant story and your site looks like the gym down the road, you're leaving your best selling point on the table.
What "custom" actually means
"Custom" doesn't have to mean expensive or complicated. For us it means:
- Designed around your venue, your customers and how you make money, rather than starting from a template.
- Built on a proper platform (WordPress, Shopify or headless, depending on what fits).
- Connected to the tools you already use.
- Fast, mobile-first and set up for search from day one.
- Easy for your team to update, with someone to call when something breaks.
The real comparison
| Squarespace / Wix | Custom build | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Low (your time) | Higher |
| Monthly cost | Around £12–£40 for most plans | Hosting and support plan |
| Time to launch | Days | Weeks |
| Design | Template-based | Built around your brand |
| Integrations | Some, via apps | Whatever you need |
| Local and AI search control | Basic | Full |
| Who fixes it | You | Your web team |
Prices change, so always check the current plans on Squarespace's and Wix's own sites.
Our honest advice
If you're new, small and short on cash, start with Squarespace or Wix and do it well. Keep the hours right, use real photos, and write a proper "about us".
When you start ticking the boxes above, that's the time to talk about something better. Not before.
Not sure if you've outgrown your site? Book a free 30-minute health check and we'll tell you straight. The first pint's on us.